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SYRACUSE, N.Y. —The Dress craze was weird. Llama Drama, too. Both paled to Virginia's 59-47 Big Monday victory at Syracuse. The Cavaliers, who averaged eight turnovers in their first 16 ACC games, committed 10 in their first 14 possessions. They fumbled routine passes, dribbled the ball awkwardly and appeared to have never seen a 2-3 zone, a defense the Orange have virtually copyrighted. This was the nation's No. 2 team? This was the ACC's best, the outfit with victories over Maryland, North Carolina, Louisville and Notre Dame, three of those four on the road? Syracuse led 13-2 about 13 minutes in, and safe to say Twitter was in full mock mode. Then the...

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The script was fantasy: Injured point guard returns and doesn't miss a shot. Senior center scores an ACC career-high in his final home game and punctuates the afternoon with two stylish dunks.
The result was routine: Virginia defeated...

Portending a wild March in Virginia, college basketball’s three most-clustered league races involve teams from the commonwealth.
Logjams at the top. Hoards lurking in the shadows. Clashes between contenders on the horizon.
Such is life in the Colonial...

Virginia Tech just concluded its second stretch of three consecutive ACC road games, a burden no other league team has shouldered this basketball season. This week figures to be more taxing.
For only the second time in program history, the Hokies face...

MEN'S BASKETBALL:
Norfolk State shook off a sluggish first half and beat Delaware State 81-71 Monday at Echols Hall on the Spartans' Senior Night.
Jeff Short had 25 points and six rebounds for NSU, while D'Shon Taylor had 19 points and RaShid Gaston...

During its final six seasons, 2008-13, the old Big East basketball conference averaged an unrivaled 8.5 NCAA tournament bids. In one remarkable fit of gluttony, 11 league teams landed in the 2011 bracket, and ninth-place Connecticut – ninth! – won the...

MEN:
If Old Dominion endures March disappointment, Thursday's loss could be a reason.
ODU squandered a 10-point second-half lead and lost 72-67 at Texas-San Antonio, a potentially costly loss for the NCAA tournament chances of the Monarchs (18-5, 7-4...

Syracuse was the toast of college basketball a year ago. Jim Boeheim’s Orange was 25-0, ranked No. 1 and applauded for a style rooted in a stifling 2-3 zone defense.
Today, Virginia is portrayed by some of the same oracles as the game’s scourge. Tony...

Malik Muller started at power forward again Monday night for Virginia Tech, as apt a metaphor for this season's Hokies as you'll find.
Muller then scored a game-high 17 points and made the decisive shot in a 65-63, come-from-behind victory that also...

Women:
Miami sophomore and Woodside High product Adrienne Motley had 18 points and six rebounds in the Hurricanes’ 64-59 comeback win over Georgia Tech.
Michelle Woods hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 33 seconds left in the contest for Miami,...

Virginia’s NCAA championship potential has been apparent since this basketball season tipped off. The Cavaliers were ranked ninth in the initial Associated Press poll and have since compiled a 20-1 record against a schedule the Rating Percentage Index...

ACC schools vowed in 2001 not to play Friday night football, long the domain of high schools. That changed in 2012, when the conference signed a contract with ESPN that increased rights fees by 30 percent and mandated three Friday games per season.
But...